Kathmandu, March 1

The construction of a diversion tunnel of 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 (UT-1) run-of-theriver hydroelectric project in Rasuwa district has been completed.

UT-1 is the largest hydroelectric project under construction with foreign direct investment for domestic consumption in Rasuwa district, which has successfully constructed a full concrete lining diversion tunnel of 420-metre length and five-metre diameter. The Trishuli River has been diverted via the diversion tunnel on February 28 to commence the construction activities of the head works.

Tae Hak Yoon, CEO of Nepal Water and Energy Development Company (NWEDC), stated that the river diversion is a significant achievement in construction of the UT-1.

The project has made progress by completing a 4.5-km excavation of the 13.5-km tunnel, which includes the headrace, adit, and tailrace tunnel. The excavation work of the underground powerhouse has advanced by 21 per cent, and the overall progress rate of the project is 14 per cent.

The project's main construction started in January 2022 and is estimated to be completed in December of 2026. Approximately 700 workers are employed at the construction site, including 300 local residents from project-affected Rasuwa district.

Doosan Enerbility is the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project.

The $647.34 million (including interest during construction) project is financed through 70 per cent debt and 30 per cent equity. The project partners will provide an equity investment of $194.20 million. In comparison, the debt of $453.12 million is being provided by a group of international lenders, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Korean Exim Bank (K-EXIM), Korean Development Bank (KDB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), FMO (The Netherlands), the British International Investment (BII), Proparco (France), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

The shareholders of NWEDC include Korea South- East Power Company Ltd, Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Corporation, International Finance Corporation, and a local Nepali partner.

In the future, the project-affected communities will be able to apply for 10 per cent of shares of the project.

UT-1 is expected to generate up to 1,533 GWh of electricity. Out of the total annual energy generated by the project, 38.75 per cent will be generated during the dry season, which is higher than most of the other run-of-the-river hydropower projects in Nepal, thus contributing vastly to managing the dry season electricity shortfall.

The project could be a game changer for the country's power system as it is close to the Kathmandu Load Centre and will get 104 MW of electricity even in the dry season. The generated energy will flow to the national grid by connecting it to the Trishuli-3B hub substation that the Nepal Electricity Authority is building.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.